Steam trap valve mechanism



Feb. 27, 1945. .1. EHRE'TSMAN ET AL 2,370,29

STEAM TRAP VALVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 26, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 27, 1945.

J. L. EHRETSMAN ET AL STEAM TRAP VALVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 26, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 27, 1945 STEAM TRAP VALVE MECHANI SM John L. Ehretsman and Richard w. Leutwiler,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to The Illinois Engineering Company, Chicag Illinois o, 111., a corporation of Application November 2.6, 1943, Serial No. 511,780

6Claims. (oust-s) This invention relates to traps of the type commonly known as steam traps whichare employed for separation of liquids from vapors and gases under pressure.

In general, a steam trap is a device applied to or connected to the drain opening of a pipe line, a vessel or chamber containing steam, to drain or remove accumulatedcondensate, air and other non-condensible gases from such pipe line, vessel or chamber without permitting the passage of steam.

The present invention relates particularly to improvements in the outlet valve operating mechanism and, for the purpose of illustration, the improvements are shown in connection with a steam trap of the general construction shown and described in the patent of John- F. McKee and Douglas B. Wright, No. 1,610,871, patented December 14, 1926, and with a thermostatic air vent of the general type illustrated and described in Patent No. 2,095,506, patented October 12, 1937, to Le'utwiler and Eichholz. Such traps may also be used. with slight modification to drain condensate from pipe lines, vessels or chambers containing compressed air or gases and for the removal of water ofcondensate or other liquids from lighter fluids, such as gasoline or naphtha.

The main objects of the present invention are to provide an improved form'of outlet valve operating mechanism whereby the pressure influencing the valve is equalized at opposite sides of the valve at the time that it is opened, so as to facilitate the opening of the valve and greatly increase the range of pressures and delivery capacities for which any particular size of trap may be employed; and to provide an improved form of such operating mechanism comprising a fluid pressure actuated jack for overcoming the resistance to unseating of the valve on its opening operation.

More specific objects of this invention are to provide an improved valve operating construction whereby, within practical limits, the following advantages are obtained:

(a) Any diameter of outlet valve seat orifice may be used.

(b) Any required capacity of delivery in pounds of condensate perhour may be obtained.

(0) For any diameter of compound seat orifice, the capacity in pounds of condensate per hour will vary with the pressure.

(d) Fewer sizes of traps with smaller physical dimensions and less weight are required for specified capacities and pressure ranges.

or an externalbalan'ce pipe.

' (e) The improved trap construction'will eliminate the'necessity of' changing valve seats in traps when operating pressures are changed.

Inthe drawings: Y Figure 1 shows in vertical section one form of trap and outlet valve-operatingmechanism embodying "the present invention, r

Fig; 2is a. fragmentary detail of a portion of the valve operating mechanism with a slightly modified form of' guide means for'the outletvalve body. I r 1 Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6- are corresponding fragmentary sectional views of the outlet valve operating mechanism showing successive positions of the various moving parts-Lin the operation of opening the valve, Fig. 3 showing the valve fully closed and Fig. 6 showing it fully open.

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail taken on the line of Fig; 3 and showing how the pilot valve stem guide is in turn guided by the standpipe which delivers'liquid to the outlet valve.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing a modified iormof the valve operating mechanism.

In the form shown in Figures 1 and-3 to 7 in elusive, the trap body or casing! and cover ll form a closed chamber 12 for collecting the condensate and housing the valve operating mechani'sm.

The chamber I2 is provided with an inlet port I3 threaded at M for connection with thepipping system that is served by the trap. The body ID has a tapped outlet IE to which may be connected a waste pipe and there is'an outlet passage 16, formed partly in the cover casting II and partly in the wall of the body It], leading from' the outlet I5 to an outlet orifice l! in a fitting in the form of a replaceable plug [8 carried by abridge'member lflwhich is bored and threaded to receive the plug l 8, as shown, so that the axis of the orifice l'l is vertical.

The cover II is so formed that the outlet passage I6 is completely'isolated from the chamber l2 except when communication is established through the orifice l l. The cover H carries a baflle or splash plate 20 Wherebyliquid entering from the inlet I3 is deflected to the lower part of the chamber I2. I I

The body In has aclean-out plug 2l in one side near the bottom and the cover also preferably has a p1ug'22 for connecting an external vent In suitable location, at a point on thecover between the outlet, passage I6 and the chamber I2,=there is a vent passage 23 fitted with a theruided, by a. l d-l it, and out through sexiness e iii t en l 'he v v A water and remain at rest at the bottom of the mostatic vent 24 which will allow the escape of air from the upper part of the chamber l2 but prevent the passage of steam as described in said Patent No. 2,095,506.

The bridge l9 has formed thereon, concentrically with the orifice 11, an internally threaded collar 25which iserves as a carrier for a standpipe 26 which is open at its lower end and extends downwardly to a point near the bottom of the bucket float 21 when the latter is in its uppermost position, as shown in Fig. 1. v V

The float 21 has a stud 28 in its bottom to which is fastened a guide post 29ewhich is of skeletal form and consists of appropriate upright and transverse members so arranged-'92s tob'e guided by the inside walls of the standpipe 26, for guiding the float 21, see Fig. 7,;a'nd the cros s mem; bers 30 are centrally the stem 3| of a pilot valve 32. The parts-of the guide post zfl are s o formed as to offer butlittle resistance to the tree flow v of liquid through the ndpip ifim' l stem 31 bless had 33 t lower end which provides shoulders for engaging I to limit its relative movement -witlif respect to the guide post 2.9. To control thefloyv of liquid through the outlet oriflce ll in accordance with the present invention there is acompouridyalveiooniprising a main o t t. alv 34 head threaded into a hollow body 35 which serves as,ahydrauliejaclscylinder and cooperates with adlifiton ili having a ste ni 31 that exte ri'ds upwardly,through the head34to a point near the top a ln t l s s eee-lfi a wall erves a an abu m nt ov t k t e ru of the stem 3l ;to unseat the g ompau eve e. The valvestem 31,;is o1; Iessdiai'neter than the ein eav tsqh ee Nie t free ass 1of air; or liquid above thepisthn 36. The piston 36 is provided withlports QB that are controlled x-a lo e. p us. rtve rem mb z .The lower head of the jac'l; cylinder has a central; port 40 that is controlled by the pilot valve 32.

is guidedfby wingsgd l which loosely engage the inner wall oi the standpipe 26.

the same as in Figure 1 except that the valve jis mol e l att e time} sesam file-Steed of havin n esre ts de wi e's I V This sleeves of; skeletal structure. to provide passages 43 and .ofier, a; minimum of 4 obstruction to the use [flow l'l' from the interior I of watertq the outlet port tt sta pi t ,v 1 e The operation of the device shown in Figures 1 and 3 to 7 inclusive is as follows: Y I

""d that the inlet l3 is con- It willbe finders nected to a piping system, such as a steam' heating or power system inwhich, durihgoperation,

there is an accumulation of condensate flowing bygravity. to the-trap chamber 1?. Initially the trap will be cold an d the thermostatic vent 24 bored toreceive and'g'uide' in'thelc over l l, which 4 'In Eigures l andB to .6;inclusive, the valve 34 y As soon as steam reaches the thermostatic vent 24, its passages close as is well known, hence the structure and operation of this thermostatic vent device need not be herein described in detail. When there is steam pressure above the condensate in the trap, the pressure on the liquid around thestandpipe 26 will force the column of liquid in the standpipe to rise and discharge through the orifice ll until the float rises carrying with it the compound valve to close the orifice l1. The parts are then in the relation in which they are shown in Figure 1 where the outlet orifice l'l isclosed by the main outlet valve 34 and the hydraulicjjack port 40 is closed by the pilot valve 132. v The. compound valve is held tightly closed by the difierential pressure, i. e., the pressure differencebetween'the inlet and outlet of the trap.

The 'deflc'tor or splash plate 20 prevents the inflow'iiig condensate from falling directly into the hucket float as the movementof the float is limited toajra'n e Wh re'in it isalways'shielded by the's'plash plate 20. I v x Continued infl'ow'o'f condenate into'th'e chamber [2 causes its surfacelevel to riseabovethe time; the float 2 1 an'd'to tall into the float. when the hi1 yancy of the'floatassenibly intheisurrounding condensateis'overbalaiiced by thefc'oni binfedweight of the float assemblyandthe liquid in its interior, it falls by gravitm'morecondensate flows in and the 'flo'a't eom' es'torest'onjthe boss 44 at the bottom of the chamber l2. 'ing, its ran, a shoulder on the "guide ost-29, which in'the for'in'shown'isthe lowermost ero'ss memb er 3o, strikes the head as of thestem ti, as. shown in 'li'ig, 3, and by imp'aot'unseats the pilot valve 32 fadmitting'liquid'at the pressure of the steam sys tem 'through the .pilot' port 40 and into the interior'of the Jack' cylinder 35. Since thesp'aoes in the cylinder 35 above the teams and itsport valve 33 areopenjtothe pressure' of the .outlet'pa'ssage I 6, the hydraulic pressure in the chamber l2 Will'liit" the jack piston and push 'thestem sum-o contact withthe cover ll;wher'euponc'ontinued movement oi the piston fi with res ect to its cylinder; 35 will thrust the cylinder downwar ly and releasethevalveu iromjits seat in the outlet'oriflce'l'fwhere previouslyit sleeve or thimble 42 will have its air eseape pas age open, permittin the escape t. a, 1 mm f an ir lock hichun ight exclude the,. en..

trance of steam or condensate. :into the trap. With no steam pressure in thev'essel nd with the a cha e. pnw th mbsp i -t leqndensate and air will flow into the trap through the condensa'te discharge qrificeell and-,the-thermostatic air ,vent' 24. Un-

n w wil h n d wi trap chamber.

i e si e tfi the 't cum lashown in opening 'esc had been held by the pressure of the steamwi'tmn memes-inert;

rrne positions or the'parts of the valve actuating mechanism are shdwnin sequence in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive. Figure 4jshows the positions of the Questwe and of thefloat'fl and'guide post just prior to the'openingof the main'val've Asf semi-as the van 34 op ns; it will run by gravity to the position in which it is shown n Figure 6 and in the"'fcourse of its fall, as shown by Fig'.' 5, the' pressures' abbve andfbelow meager piston is will become equalized'andthe plug valve 3.9 will fallto the bottonijot hjcylinder 'flfias v I 1 apeipor ts through thepiston and allowingthe' pitted-to settle to the lower 1mm of its stroke within the cylinder- 85,

asshownin Fig. 6. I I a v The 'standpipe 26 will always 'be filledfw'ithliquid to the level o fthe orifice plug It. This contidn is assured by "the 'iact that the length ,of the standpipe' :6 :and the buoyancy of' the 'fldat are vso related 'all'iq 'propertio'riedthat'the water level in the float will never'fall belowthe lower end of the standpipe 2t therefore; there will a liduidseal to prevent'ceam oranunder p ssure from "entering the ashampe-u. That is tosay; when the'valv'lilopehsandthe float 21 rests on the boss, the pressure of the steamfini the upper part of the chamber [2, upon the liquid surrounding the standpipe 26, will force the liquid up through the standpipe and out through the orifice I! and the outlet passage 16 in a continuous stream until the weight of liquid in the float is insufiicient tohold it submerged, Y

whereupon the float will rise and cause the valve 34 to close the outlet-orifice IT, restoring the parts to the position in'which they are shown in Figure 1. This rising of the float will occur before the level of the liquid in the fioat reaches the bottom of the standpipe- 26- and the standpipe will accordingly always remain filled with liquid, due to the barometric relation of the standpipe 26 with respect to the body of water surrounding its lower end.

The compound valve remains open so long as condensate is supplied to the trap at a rate equal to, or greater than, the capacity of the outlet nozzle at the pressure of the system. With a trap of appropriate capacity, under normal operating conditions, the discharge rate exceeds the rate of condensate supply and the trap operates intermittently as described.

It will be observed that the outlet orifice H, the valve 34, the piston 36, stem 31, piston valve 39, pilot port 40, pilot valve 32, stem 3|, float 21, and guide post'29-30, are all alined with the axis of the standpipe 26 and that each of these moving parts is symmetrically formed with respect to that axis. Thus the weight of each part is balanced with respect to its path of movement along the standpipe and friction is minimized. The sequential positioning of the parts along this axis results in perfect timing of the automatic functions thereof due to movements of the float.

In the form shown in Fig. 8, the parts that are identified by the same reference numerals as are employed in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive are identical counter-parts in form and function, but instead of having the outlet valve 34 guided on the walls of the standpipe 26, it is guided by a guide collar 46 on the stem 3 I. of the pilot valve 32. The guide collar 46 is connected by skeleton arms 41 with the cylinder 48 of the hydraulic jack.

In the foregoing description of operation, it has been assumed that the pressure at the outlet of the trap is atmospheric. The trap will however function equally well at any outlet pressure, above, at or below atmosphere, provided that the corresponding inlet pressure is in excess of the outlet pressure.

It is important to note that in former traps, where the outlet orifice is controlled by a single valve, instead of the compound valve of the present invention, there is a definite limiting relation all between the area of the seat orifice, the shape and weight of the float assembly, and the pressure in the trap.

With the present invention, there is no such closely limiting relation of design sizes because each size of trap is quite independent of pressure, due to the fact that the pilot orifice can be very small and the equalizing piston of the jack can be larger than the largest size of orifice used. Thus a few traps of widely different capacities will serve all purposes and many special sizes of'orifice fittings and valves can be eliminated.

In general, the present invention increases the capacity, i. e., the number of pounds of condensate per hour which a trap will discharge throughout the whole pressure range, because only the pilot valve, and not the main outlet valve, is opene'dby the weight or'impact of the float acting against the steam pressureon the valve. One function of the'compound valve is to simplify the problem of designing a series of traps, to reduce sizes and weights of parts and to eliminate the use of many orifices of various diameters formerly required for a given pressure range.

A further advantage of the present invention is that, in the majority of situations, achange of operating pressure or required 'capacityina particular system equipped withsuch-a trap will not require replacement of the orifice with one of different size.

Although several specific embodiments of the invention are herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details, of the constructions shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. A compound valve, comprising a body hav ing a head adapted to close an orifice, a jack cylinder within said body, a jack piston movable in said cylinder, a stem for said piston extending through said head, a port in said body at the end opposite from said head and leading to said cylinder, and a pilot valve controlling said port.

2. A compound valve, comprising a body having a head adapted to close an orifice, a jack cylinder within said body, a jack piston movable in saidcylinder, a stem for said piston extending I through said head, .a pilot port in said body at the end opposite from said head and leading to said cylinder, a pilot valve controlling said pilot port, an equalizing port in said piston, and a normally open by-pass valve controlling said equalizing port and adapted to be closed by pressure adjacent said pilot port.

3. A compound valve, comprising an axially vertical jack cylinder body having its upper head of valve form for closing an orifice by differential pressures at opposite sides of said orifice, a jack piston within said jack cylinder body, a stem extending upward from said piston and through said upper head, said cylinder having a lower head provided with an axial inlet port, a pilot izing port valve at the lower limit of its stroke.

4. Trap valve mechanism comprising a casing having a chamber, an outlet orifice therefor, an outlet valve for said orifice adapted to be held normally closed by pressure within said chamber, a fluid pressure actuated jack acting on said valve to open the same, said jack comprising a cylinder fixedly connected to said outlet valve and a piston in said cylinder having a stem adapted to bear on said casing, a port leading from said chamber to said jack cylinder, and a pilot valve controlling said port. i

5. A trap valve mechanism, comprising a casing having an outlet orifice, a valve body normally seated on said orifice by pressure in said casing, said body having a hydraulic jack cylinder in its interior, a piston in said cylinder, 'a

piston stem extending from said cylinder through said outlet orifice, a port in said valve body be- 4 imam;

pw n t mmndm; :imm said c l ndn h ough an; .outlet. orififi lapport 'mcsaid valve body bptwgen sa idgylindgr-andlsaid-casing a pilot Valle co ro i g-s o mssuneiequalizmzpa-s- 5 a e thmughnid piston; .vgwemr said pm dapt d t -be.-n0rma1ly= pen d by ,zr vity arm fxpm said;.port, and anAabutmeut on said e ns w t a p stongstem $0 unseatsaid 10 valve hody .from. said .qriflce.

JOHN 1L. EHRETSMAN. ,B CHARD W..LEUII!WI1+EB- 

